


Momentary Warmth

by zahhisio



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: F/M, FEH Week 2020, Fluff, Gen, Picnics, Requited Love, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zahhisio/pseuds/zahhisio
Summary: Flora comes back to her teammates with good news about her and Kiran.
Relationships: Flora/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	Momentary Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is written for FEH Week 2020, Day 2: Unit Alt/Sharing Stories. Heavily based on Picnic Flora's 5-star/Lv. 40 confession lines.

“So, Flora, how did it go for you and him?”

The innocent question from Gunnthra, laden with curiosity, caused Flora to break into cold sweat. Her eyes darted wildly around the shared house’s living room, clearly showing her uncertainty in answering the question from Gunnthra, who was sitting across from her. The others - Sigurd and Rinea - took their seats on each of Flora’s sides, and they too were staring at her expectantly, curious about the story she supposedly had.

Flora audibly gulped. She felt as if she was in a courtroom, her friends morphing into judges ready to deliver a verdict on her. She took the teacup in front of her and quickly chugged the tea in it down to calm her heart. Before this, the four of them - a team united under the same roof, in an attempt by the Summoner to strengthen their camaraderie - were cheerfully discussing their day-to-day activities. To no one’s surprise, Sigurd, completely unprompted, started gushing out about his love for his wife, Deirdre, claiming that she was ‘the light of his life’. Rinea, while a tad bit bashful, followed suit with her talks about the Rigelian prince Berkut, while Gunnthra somehow avoided talking about her romantic interest by substituting it with her lovely siblings instead.

When Flora’s turn came, the atmosphere turned serious at the drop of a hat.

It was no secret to the others that she was head over heels for the Summoner himself - she was not the best at hiding her feelings. As good friends, however, they sincerely wish for Flora to attain her wish of becoming the Summoner’s significant other, however rough the road was. Their curiosity would be sparked every once in a while when Flora had the chance to talk to him and came home with a silly smile on her face, and this time, right as she sheepishly glanced away, receptive of the pressure exerted by the others, everyone wanted to know the answer to the question gnawing on their minds:

“Did anything happen between Flora and the Summoner during the picnic?”

Indeed, she, together with Leo, Felicia, Lukas, and Genny, spent time with the Order of Heroes in a picnic. Their morbid curiosity was to compensate for the fact that they were not there to witness first-hand the development of Flora and the Summoner’s relationship, but for Flora, it was even harder to explain it by words instead of letting them come and watch her.

“Umm…,” Flora hummed, gathering her courage in an attempt to answer. Everyone leaned forward as soon as they heard her voice, their eyes still staring at her.

“DId you declare your love for him?” Sigurd piped in.

“Did you go sightseeing together, just the two of you?” Rinea followed suit.

“Slow down, you two,” chided Gunnthra in her signature motherly tone, making Sigurd and Rinea giggle and clam up.

Quietly thanking Gunnthra for her timely intervention, Flora began, her fingers fidgeting wildly, “I think it would be better for me to tell you the whole situation.”

And so the others leaned back on their respective chairs, making themselves comfortable, as Flora told her story.

* * *

Grassy plains bathed in yellow sunlight, dotted by flowers of various colors and scents - Fjörgyn was, without a doubt, the best spot for a picnic. Chosen by Sharena due to the place’s famous beauty, the Order of Heroes - or some of it - hosted their picnic there. Away from the duties and responsibilities of Heroes for a fleeting moment, everyone had their fill of fun. 

Flora remained her serious self despite all that. She excused herself from the rest of the picnic-goers, who went into the forest nearby to look for wild animals, to prepare the picnic site. After putting down her rucksack, she proceeded to spread the picnic carpet; once it tidily settled over the verdant grass, she began preparing the dishes she packed the night before. She then set out to the next, arguably way more arduous, task: grating cheese. Despite putting her whole energy in it, the cheese did not budge one bit, and none of the shredded strings of cheese she expected came out of the grater. 

Puzzled by the cheese’s resistance, Flora’s patience began wearing thin. “Why is it so hard?” she grumbled, trembling while exerting her entire power to grate the stubborn block of cheese. “Grate, cheese! Argh!”

She stopped to catch her breath. Despite giving it her all, the cheese remained whole, irritating Flora, who was about to give up before she noticed a figure approaching her.

“Oh, Sir Kiran!” Flora said.

“I take it that you’re having a problem with the food?” Kiran said, eyeing the peculiar block of cheese. “I can hear you struggling from afar,” he giggled.

“I-Is that so?” Flora stammered, embarrassed for being found out.

“‘Grate, cheese!’, you said!” Kiran imitated the motion of cheese-grating as he spoke. “It’s as if you’re trying to cast a spell or something. It’s kinda cute.”

_ Cute? _ Kiran’s words and giggle made Flora’s heart skip a beat. While she had served him for quite some time since her arrival in Askr, that laugh of his never failed to make her blush like she did the first time she witnessed it.

“Well, you see.. As you might have heard from afar, this cheese block is hard to grate, for some reason.”

Kiran glanced at the block of cheese and the grater. His facial features contorted into a look that Flora recognized as his serious look: one reserved for paperwork issues that required his full attention to solve. That face usually meant that he would abandon any other thought he had in order to solve the problem standing in front of him.

“Weren’t you accompanying Prince Alfonse and the others?” Flora pointed out. “You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Kiran broke out of his concentration for a moment, answering Flora with a shrug. “Eh, I told them to go ahead. Looks like you need a helping hand more than they do.”

Kiran had a sound argument. Flora handed him the grater and the block of cheese. She moved herself next to Kiran, eager to watch him work on the unexpected enemy of hers. To no one’s surprise, he worked deftly with it, and the cheese block began to give way, turning into strings of cheese that fell into a container Flora had prepared. Once there was not much left of the block of cheese, Kiran tossed it into the grated cheese container before giving the grater to Flora. 

“Whew, that was harder than I thought!” he said gleefully, masking the slightly tired look on his face and his ragged breath.

Flora put the grate and the block of cheese, safely and tightly stored in its container, back to the picnic rucksack she brought with her. “Finally! We’re done with the dishes.”

“That’s… great…” Kiran leaned back, supporting his body with his arms as he stared upwards, and then at Flora. “I’m gonna rest for a moment. Care to join?” invited him.

“Gladly.” Acceding to Kiran’s suggestion, Flora left her rucksack standing tall and huddled a little bit closer to him, consciously not trying to get too close. She had grown used to being alone together with Kiran in his office, but doing so out in the open was an entirely different thing. The butterflies in her stomach flew around too much for her to calm down.

“The sunlight here feels warm, don’t you think?” asked Kiran.

Trying to distract herself, Flora nodded. “Yes. It’s truly a wonderful thing. Back in Freesia, I’ve never experienced this kind of warmth. It’s cold and always snowing there.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not always cold too, then!” Kiran jested.

“Actually, my body is quite cold,” corrected Flora. Kiran rose slightly, visibly surprised. “For real?”

“Shall I show you?”

“Be my guest.”

Upon Kiran’s show of approval, Flora clasped his right hand and pulled it towards her face. She let go of it and proceeded to slowly nudge it with her left hand, letting it cup her cheek. The sensation of his fingers brushing against her skin made her chest flutter wildly; it took all of her to remain calm.

“See what I mean?” Flora said, her lips curling into a smile. Kiran’s hand was glued to her cheek, patting it a few times while Kiran gasped in surprise like a scholar who discovered a long-lost fount of knowledge. “You’re not kidding!” he exclaimed. “Your skin is so cold.”

“Because of this, I usually do very poorly in the heat. I’m more used to the frigid air, after all.”

“You should’ve said something! We’re practically in the heat right now! Are you okay?”

Kiran’s worrywart personality surfaced, just as Flora had predicted. “It’s alright, Sir Kiran,” she assured him. grabbing Kiran’s hand and pushing it away. “For some reason, I feel very comfortable right now.”

Kiran let out a sigh of relief and wiped the single bead of sweat off his forehead. “That’s good,” he said.

“Perhaps, it is because you are beside me,” murmured Flora.

Upon realizing what she had said, her heart plummeted. The romantic air that had settled silently as she talked with Kiran had lulled her into revealing her true feelings. Her fair white skin turned rosy red by the cheeks as she babbled, “Ah, I don’t mean that way, Sir Kiran! What I wanted to say was that you’re an excellent, reliable master, and I-”

Her rambling was stopped by Kiran’s fingertips tenderly gripping on her chin. He slightly and slowly tilted her head up, staring right into her eyes with those sharp hazel eyes of his. The maid said no word as her master said, “I’m thankful that you think of me that way, Flora.”

He brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face with his left hand, tucking them neatly behind her left ear.

“The truth is, I…” Kiran’s words trailed off, replaced with a soft chuckle. “Well, I guess it’s better to show you instead of simply telling you, no?” He tugged Flora’s head towards his and pursed his lips; she froze like a deer in the headlights as Kiran leaned in, slowly closing her eyes, her lips pursed in anticipation.

In the span of seconds, everything made sense to her. The way Kiran had been treating her; the way he smiled when talking to her; the way he showed his concern whenever she was burdened with something in her mind. 

Before their lips could press against each other’s, a sudden pang of pain stopped Kiran and made him squeal. “Ouch!” He stared upwards to see Feh, who somehow made her way to them and perched on Kiran’s head, hoot happily and flap her wings guilt-free. As if her unwarranted presence was not enough, Flora heard footsteps of the other Heroes, all of them apparently having finished their trip around the forest.

Flora felt a sudden urge to have owl meat for the picnic, but decided against it, hiding her disappointment behind a smile.

* * *

The moment Flora confirmed that no kisses happened, everyone jerked back on their chair and groaned in unison. “That’s it?!” Sigurd was just as incensed by Feh’s antics as Flora was. “Did you not continue it somewhere else?”

Flora shook her head. “In the end, we decided not to talk about it until the picnic is over.”

“Has he talked to you since then?” asked Rinea.

Flora shook her head again, a wistful look on her face.

“Goodness…,” Gunnthra rested her chin on her hand. “At the very least, we know that it’s proceeding smoothly, even if it is a bit slow.” She reached out to Flora and patted her head, saying, “I’m sure you two can talk it out tomorrow. After all, your job is to be by his side.”

The disappointment over the lack of proper closure was quickly dissipated by Gunnthra’s assurance. Instead of continuing the late-night gossip, the maid thanked Gunnthra and excused herself rather early, retreating to her room after a bow, exhausted after the picnic.

That night, she could not sleep soundly, no thanks to the anticipation over tomorrow’s meeting with Kiran.

Every time she tried to close her eyes, his face appeared before her.

Every time it did, she giggled to herself.

She did not mind losing sleep over it.


End file.
